Mac OS 9 Lives
Mac OS 9 Discussion => Mac OS 9, Hacks & Upgrades => Mac OS 9 on Unsupported Hardware => Topic started by: UnexpectedBomb on October 02, 2026, 08:39:50 AM
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Time to fire up those G4 AlBooks and iBooks, people 8)
I am VERY excited to introduce the first-ever AirPort Extreme driver for Mac OS 9. At long last, you can toss aside that travel router and take your favorite unsupported OS 9-booting G4 machine truly WIRELESS with an internal AirPort Extreme card, exactly the way God intended.
SPEED AND SECURITY
Developed and tested on my FW800 MDD, this driver has three components: a system extension (the actual driver), a control panel (UI for connecting to networks), and a control strip (optional but awesome), all based heavily on Apple's original AirPort stack design. True 802.11g speeds have been achieved and documented, reaching up to 1.5 MB/s up and 2 MB/s down, which are comparable to speeds under OS X Tiger with the same hardware and roughly 2.5-3x faster than Apple's original 802.11b AirPort stack.
And perhaps most importantly, it supports WPA2 security, allowing you to connect Mac OS 9 to modern wireless networks securely for the first time.
INSTALLATION
1) Install the AirPort Extreme Driver system extension to your Extensions folder
2) Install the AirPort Extreme control panel to your Control Panels folder
3) Install the AirPort Extreme control strip to your Control Strip Modules folder (optional but you totally should)
4) Reboot
5) Open the TCP/IP control panel, select the "AirPort Extreme" configuration under Connect via, quit to save it
6) Open the AirPort Extreme control panel, select your WPA2 wireless network from the dropdown, enter your password when prompted (also supports unsecured open network connections)
COMPATIBILITY
Confirmed working on the FW800 MDD, and EXPECTED to work on the following:
eMac G4 1.25GHz (USB 2.0)
eMac G4 1.42GHz (2005)
iMac G4 15-inch 1.0GHz
iMac G4 17/20-inch 1.25GHz
Mac mini G4 (Early 2005)
iBook G4 (2003-2004, Radeon 9200)
Al PowerBook G4 12-inch 867MHz
Al PowerBook G4 12-inch 1.0-1.5GHz
Al PowerBook G4 17-inch 1.0GHz
Al PowerBook G4 15/17-inch (Radeon)
Please help me out by confirming this driver works on machines from this list so that I can update my Expected Compatibility table on the repo. Every documented instance of confirmed compatibility is very helpful. General feedback is always appreciated as well. NOW GO ENJOY!
Download the three AirPort Extreme components here:
https://github.com/UnexpectedBomb/MacOS9-Airport-Extreme/releases/tag/v1.0b219
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https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/List_of_AirPort_Cards
https://de.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+AirPort+Extreme+Modell+A1143+Teardown/438